Leonard Garcia Could Introduce Featherweight Division to the UFC

By now, you have all heard about the merger between the Ultimate Fighting Championship and World Extreme Cagefighting. Starting in January of 2011, the UFC will take over the WEC's roster and add the featherweight and bantamweight divisions.

The introduction of the lighter weight classes to the UFC's audience could start sooner than expected.

According to MMAjunkie.com, the UFC is looking at introducing the featherweight division at The Ultimate Fighter Season 12 Finale on Spike TV.

In the division's debut bout, fan-favorite and the always exciting fighter Leonard Garcia (14-6-1) could face off against Tyler Toner (10-2). Sources close to Garcia's camp have said that their fighter has verbally agreed to the bout, but the bout agreements have not yet been finalized. It has also been said that Toner may have not been approached about the bout at this time, but it is in the UFC's plans.

Having a guy like Garcia introduce the featherweight division to UFC fans would be a great decision by Zuffa. Win, lose, or draw, Garcia always brings it and puts on an exciting performance. Any mixed martial arts fan has seen the war between Garcia and "The Korean Zombie" Chan Sung Jung. If Garcia could put on another exciting performance like that, the fans would be dying with anticipation for the next featherweight battle.

The lighter weight classes will bring a new level of excitement to the UFC, and Garcia vs. Toner would just be the start.

Josh Sanchez has had his work linked to and featured on Yahoo! Sports, SportsIllustrated.com and FOXSports.com. For more, check out his MMA blog CagePages.com. Follow him on Twitter at @jnsanchez.